tackling trouble areas Beyond By: Kurt Vogel The Bulb R Rising energy costs, a renewed focus on reducing energy use and local product rebates make now the perfect time to consider lighting retrofits as a solution to reduce costs, reduce maintenance and achieve sustainability goals. One key driver requiring more energy-efficient lighting is the government. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) mandated lighting manufacturers phase out production of most T12 lamps by July 2012 to help increase the energy efficiency of linear fluorescent lighting. As of July, these old T12 lamps no lon-ger have available replacements, making it imperative that facilities upgrade lighting before maintaining an outdated system becomes even more expensive and dis-rupts business operations. Another factor influencing lighting reno-vation decisions is that facilities are expe-riencing dramatic jumps in energy bills because demand keeps rising and electric-ity is more expensive. As a way to support the DOE mandate and reduce overall energy loads, many util-ity companies across the U.S. are providing substantial rebates to facilities that install energy-efficient lighting retrofits, making them more affordable. The additional savings along with the retrofit benefits — energy savings, main-tenance savings and helping to achieve sustainability goals — make the retrofit solution a win-win-win for the facility, the government and utility companies. 1. Relamp and reballast 2. Delamp and reballast using a reflector kit 3. One-for-one replacement 4. Complete redesign. However, a new generation of lighting retrofit kits provides an excellent solution to replace old, inefficient lighting. Retrofit kits — available in efficient flu-orescent and light-emitting diode (LED) options — enable installation of compo-nent parts into the housing of old fixtures, maintaining their integrity and delivering the appearance and efficiency of a modern fixture. In addition to better light quality and aes-thetics, retrofit kits are installed from below Lighting retrofit kits provide a non-disruptive main-tenance solution that produces sustainable cost savings. the ceiling plane for virtually no disruption to an organization’s productivity. Moreover, retrofit kits offer a better light-ing experience compared to old parabolic systems that send harsh light directly down-wards. Retrofit kits are available with modern volumetric fixtures, which fill the space ver-tically with light. They deliver more lumens per watt, so they last longer than older T12, T8 and T5 fixtures, presenting a softer appearance with less contrast and glare that is also bet-ter distributed. Selecting an LED retrofit kit can further increase energy savings and reduce main-tenance to virtually nothing. Quality, Efficient Lighting Until recently, there were four basic options to retrofit lighting: Ensuring a bright, evenly lit environment without excessive glare can improve worker productivity and increase students’ test scores. 44 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2012 Image courtesy of Lithonia Lighting
CMM – Archives Oct 2012: 44
